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A near impossible literacy test Louisiana used to suppress the black vote

(www.openculture.com)
243 points rcarmo | 2 comments | 21 Oct 24 21:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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jiriknesl ◴[22 Oct 24 08:33 UTC] No.41912334[source]▶
I know, from a human rights point of view, this is very problematic. But imagine, if only people who can really understand written text, who can calculate, who understand how legal system works, who have basics of logic could vote.

Of course, those tests shouldn't be that ambiguous, but if they were phrased a bit more clear, these would be very simple. At the same time, English has changed in the last 50 years. That phrasing might have been common back then.

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1. tombert ◴[22 Oct 24 12:54 UTC] No.41913756[source]▶
I’ve thought this in the past, but I’ve changed my mind.

People with poor reading and logic and legal skills are still people, living in society, paying taxes, with lives just as complicated and interesting as mine. Who am I to say that they shouldn’t have a say in how things are run?

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2. mrguyorama ◴[22 Oct 24 16:50 UTC] No.41916186[source]▶
Stupid people have just as much right to have their societal problems heard and solved as the rest of us.

Nobody deserves to suffer or be ignored for the horrid crime of being born stupid or "mentally deficient" by your standards.